1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves a method for displaying images derived from ultrasonic scans and a corresponding processing and display system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Displayed images obtained by ultrasonic scanning are often difficult to see clearly. The difficulties are typically of two types. First, since the resolution of an ultrasound scan is usually much less than for, say, an X-ray image or even a normal television picture, an operator may have trouble making out the edges of even well-defined structures, such as the boundaries of organs. This is often made worse by the low-intensity noise that "clouds" the image. Second, in the context of medical ultrasonic imaging, scan data is often presented to the sonographer in such a way that 2-D displays of sections of scanned 3-D regions often fail to give the user any sense of the 3-D structure of the region.
In conventional systems, the intensity values of displayed image elements are sometimes adjusted depending on the results of, for example, edge-detection and speckle-reduction procedures. These systems often ignore, however, the fact that a "true" display of intensities doesn't always most clearly emphasize the structural features of the scanned region.
What is needed is therefore a way of displaying an ultrasonic image in which the effect of low-level noise is reduced, and that better brings out structural features in the image.